Classic Sourdoughs : A Home Baker's Handbook

Sourdough: The Gold Standard of Bread More and more home bakers are replacing mass-produced breads and commercial yeasts in favor of artisan breads made with wild cultures and natural fermentation. Whether you want to capture your own local yeasts, take advantage of established cultures like San Francisco Sourdough, or simply bake healthier, more natural loaves, you'll find no better guides than renowned sourdough authorities Ed and Jean Wood. In this updated edition of "Classic Sourdoughs," the Woods reveal their newly discovered secret to crafting the perfect loaf: by introducing a unique culture-proofing step and adjusting the temperature of the proofs, home bakers can control the sourness and leavening like never before. The reward? Fresh, hot sourdough emerging from the oven just the way you like it--every time. Starting with their signature Basic Sourdough loaf, the Woods present recipes featuring rustic grains and modern flavors, including Herb Spelt Bread, Prarie Flax Bread, and Malt Beer Bread, along with new no-knead versions of classics like White French Bread. They round out the collection with recipes for homemade baguettes, bagels, English muffins, and cinnamon rolls, plus a chapter on baking authentic sourdoughs in bread machines. Steeped in tradition, nuanced in flavor, and wonderfully ritualized in preparation, sourdough is bread the way it was meant to be. So join the sourdough renaissance and bring these time-honored traditions into your own kitchen.

Product Information

Reviews

Praise for the PREVIOUS edition "[The] new edition of Wood's classic global explorations of wild yeast is a big event in the baking world and a must for sourdough fans." --The Arizona Republic
"Brings the tradition of sourdough cooking into focus. It is easy, interesting reading and doesn't make sourdough baking seem complicated." --Sharon Maasdam, The Oregonian

Author description

Ed Wood, MD, PhD, is a physician and research scientist whose quest for ancient sourdough cultures began
in Saudi Arabia, where he served as a chairman of pathology at a Riyadh hospital. Wood returned to the
United States with a bevy of sourdough cultures and began blending the art of baking with the rules of
science. He and his wife, Jean Wood, founded Sourdoughs International, through which sourdough cultures
from around the world are shipped to 78 countries.